Home invasions near Alton appear connected; dog shot in mouth
NEAR ALTON — Attackers held two men at gunpoint and then beat them with a shotgun and made off with cash and other valuables in two separate home invasions this week.
Both incidents occurred Monday afternoon northwest of Alton, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño. The same group of men appears to be responsible for both attacks.
“They’re driving around, attempting to spot an individual out in the yard — that’s when they pounce on him and invade the house,” Treviño said.
Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a newer Ford Explorer with gray paint and beige trim.
The first armed robbery occurred early Monday afternoon at a residence near the intersection of Minnesota Road and Janice Street, north of Mission, according to a statement from the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies interviewed Juan De Dios Porraz, 43, who said he was in the front yard working on a vehicle when the Explorer pulled up and two men got out. One of the men pointed a shotgun at Porraz and demanded cash. Porraz said he didn’t have any.
A bandage covered part of Porraz’s forehead Tuesday afternoon. He said he still hurt all over after the two attackers smacked him with the butt of the shotgun, knocked him to the ground and kicked him into submission.
Porraz said he led the men inside his house, where they took $300 and some jewelry.
“They went through all of my things,” he said in Spanish.
The second robbery occurred about 1:10 p.m. Monday near Bentsen Palm and Conception roads.
Mario Marquez, 51, was feeding his chickens in the backyard when he heard a vehicle drive up.
Marquez said four men got out of the vehicle and headed toward him. One of them was armed with a shotgun and ordered him to the ground. Another man then tied his hands behind his back with a red bandana.
“I will kill you if you don't give me your money!” one of the men told Marquez, according to investigators.
Marquez told the men he had no money, and one of them then struck him in the head with the butt of the shotgun while the others kicked him. They told him not to move.
Marquez sat beneath a canopy in his yard Tuesday afternoon with a piece of cold beef on his bruised and swollen right eye. He said he was home from his carpentry job Monday because of heavy rains across the area.
The $800 in cash that the criminals stole from him was going to pay his family’s monthly bills, he said.
“We don’t know them,” Marquez said in Spanish. “It’s good my wife and girl were not here.”
As the criminals left the property, they fired one fatal shotgun blast into the mouth of El Diablo, the family’s pit bull. Marquez said the loss of the money would set him back, but he remained determined to protect his family.
“I am not scared of those rats,” he said.
- Anyone with information about these incidents is urged to contact Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers at (956) 668-8477.
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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.
